Kitchen compactor

ABSTRACT

A kitchen compactor for the crushing of trash and other disposable wastes is disclosed. The compactor employs a hydraulic cylinder and piston assembly which is controlled by a control means that causes water from the household water supply to flow into the hydraulic cylinder. The water pressure produces motion of the piston which activates a lever arm upon which a pressing platen is mounted. The movement of the lever arm causes the pressing platen to enter into or withdraw from a waste container. When the pressing platen enters the waste container, the waste contained therein is compressed into a small bale or package of considerably smaller volume for easier disposal.

United States Patent 1 3,691,944 Boyd f [451 Sept. 19, 1972 [s41 KITCHENCOMPACTOR 3,654,885 I 4/1972 Longo..; ...1oo/229 [72] Inventor: John A.Boyd, 3314 Holloman Primary Examiner-Billy J. Wilhrte Road n Church?22042 Attorney-Roylance, Abrams, Berdo & Kaul [22] Filed:' May 27,1971 i[52] other disposable wastes is disclosed. The compactor loo/269 Rloo/271 loo/295 employs a hydraulic cylinder and piston assembly [51]Int Cl 1 5 /06 which is controlled by a control means that causes waterfrom the household water pp y to flow into [58] g ig g gfgfiiw-g thehydraulic cylinder. The water pressure produces 6 motion of the pistonwhich activates a lever arm upon which a pressing platen is mounted. Themovement of the lever arm causes the pressing platen to enter into {56]Re.fel .ences Cited or withdraw from a waste container. When the UNTEDSTATES PATENTS pressing platen enters the. waste container, the wastecontained therein is compressed into a small bale or g; grafoord 32package of considerably smaller volume for easier arza dis osaL3,521,553 7/1970 Smolka et al. ..100/233 X p 3,601,953 8/ 1971 Boyd..53/ 124 B 8 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures Q 56 54536 7 8 52 4 s i,

1 l J a 6 I 34 70 I4 70 7O 4O 18 App]. No.: 147,575

US. Cl; ...l00/229 A, 53/124 B, /233,

57 I ABSTRACT A kitchen compactor for the crushing of trash and PA'TENTEDsEP 19 m2 FIG. 2

FIG. I

INVENTOR JOHN A. BOYD FIG. 3

I6 69 k K i 7o FIG. 4

ATTORNEYS.

KITCHEN COMPACTOR The present invention is in the field of solid wastedisposal and particularly in the field of solid waste disposal bycompressing the waste into a small volume of space.

In the field of solid wastedisposal, the most common contemporary methodof such disposal is through trash collection. In the normal household orapartment, the residents will deposit their disposable wastes inwastebaskets throughout the dwelling. Periodically, these wastes arecollected in garbage pails which are later emptied into garbagecollection trucks. Once the trash is placed into the trash collectiontruck, the trash is usually compressed by a compression apparatus builtinto the truck itself. This compression makes the trash collectionprocess more efficient because trash, as a general rule, is comprised ofa mixture of many objects which do not comprise a dense mass. Bycompression, the density of the trash collected can be increased whichallows the trash collection truck to carry more trash than would bepossible without compression.

The problem of trash density is not unique to the trash collection truckbecause it is desirable even within the household to compress collectedtrash into a smaller volume to conserve storage space requirements. Adisposable bottle, for example, occupies a considerable space into whichother objects could be placed if the bottle were crushed. The samedecrease of trash density can also be achieved by the crushing ofplastic containers, tin cans, aluminum cans, cardboard containers andother crushable packages. A further reason for the desirability ofcrushing trash within the household is that the trash can be collectedin fewer trash containers and transported to the trash collection trucksmore quickly and easily. v

In light of the foregoing it is a primary object of this invention toprovide an apparatus particularly suited for use in the kitchen forcompressing trash.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a trash compressionapparatus which is physically suitably for installation in kitchens.

It is another object of this invention to provide a trash compressorapparatus having operating means which is operative from the householdwater supply for providing the compressing force.

Other objects, advantages and salient features of the present inventionwill become apparent from the following detailed description, which,taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings, discloses a preferredembodiment thereof.

The foregoing objects of the present invention are achieved by thesimple kitchen compactor of the present invention. A water activatedhydraulic cylinder is mounted within the compactor unit. A control meansis provided to control the flow of water from the household water supplyinto the hydraulic cylinder. The piston contained within the hydrauliccylinder is activated by the water supply and it causes the attachedpiston rod to project out of or retract into the cylinder body. Themovement of the piston is transmitted by a lever arm to a pressingplaten which is movable into or out of a trash container. When thecontainer is filled with trash and the platen enters the container, thecontents of the container are compressed. Once the trash containerbecomes full, the front of the kitchen compactor is opened and thecompacted waste is removed.

Referring now to the drawings which form a portion of the originaldisclosure:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the kitchen compactor of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2; and I FIG. 4is a fragmentary elevational view showing the sliding platform partiallywithdrawn from the housing of the compactor.

Referring now to the drawings in further detail, there is illustrated inFIG. 1 a kitchen compactor generally designated 1. The compactorincludes a housing or casing having a front wall 3, a pair of opposedside walls 5 and a top wall 7. A control button 2, the purpose of whichwill be described hereinafter, is mounted on one of the side walls 5. Ahandle 6 is centrally attached at the lower portion of the front wall 3.Above the handle 6, there is provided a hopper door 8 which serves toclose an opening 9 in the front wall 3. The hopper door 8 is pivotallyattached at its lower end by a hinge 10 which connects the hopper door'to the front wall. A handle 4 attached to the hopper door 8 permitsopening and closing thereof.

Referring to FIG. 2, it can be seen that the compactor casing alsoincludes a rear wall 12 which carries at its lower end, a projectingwall portion 18 which extends into the casing interior to act as a stopfor a movable platform means generally designated 14. The platform means14 includes a bottom or base wall 16 having an outer end engaged to thebottom of the front wall 3 and having an inner end engageable againstthe wall portion 18. Slide members 20 are attached near the top of frontwall 3 along the opposite sides thereof and are generally perpendicularto front wall 3. Each slide member 20 is engageable with a cooperatingtrack 22 attached to the inside of the side walls 5. Roller means 23permit the slide and track members to move relative to one another whenthe handle 6 is pulled to move the platform means 14 inwardly oroutwardly. When slide member 20 is in the position shown in FIG. 2, therear edge thereof contacts stop means 24 on the inside of the back wall12 to insure that front wall 3 and moving platform 16 are in properalignment with the remaining parts of the compactor.

Hopper door 8 has a top flange 26 which butts against stop 28 whenhopper door 8 is in its closed position as shown in FIG. 2. The hopperdoor 8 also has two opposed parallel side flanges 30 attached thereto,each side flange being perpendicular to the plane of hopper door 8 andthe plane of top flange 26. Side flanges 30 are spaced apart andpositioned on opposite edges of hopper door 8 and form a chute for trashwhen the hopper door 8 is swung to its open position as shown in FIG. 4,by pulling the handle 4. Each hopper door side flange 30 has a lateralflange 32 which engages front wall 3 when hopper door 8 is in its openposition.

Returning now to FIG. 2, rear wall 12 has a rigid support member 34attached interiorly thereof and occupying a position extending from thebottom of rear wall 12 to a point near the top of rear wall 12. A pairof lever arm support members 36 are rigidly attached to support member34, each lever arm support member 36 being substantially a planarsurface said members 3 being positioned in spaced parallel planesperpendicular to the plane of support member 34.

The wall portion 18 at the bottom rear of the unit into pipe 76 whichconnects-directly to hydraulic conalso serves as a hydraulic cylindersupport means and can be attached to the support member 34 or directlyto the rear wall 12. The ,wall 18 supports hydraulic cylinder and pistonassembly 38 by a pivotal connection 40. Hydraulic assembly 38 has apiston rod which carries a clevis 42 being pivotally attached at pivotconnection 44 to lever means 46. Lever means 46 has a pivotal connection48 about rigid rod 50 which passes through lever means 46 substantiallyperpendicular to the plane thereof and is rigidly connected to suitablesupport members 36 at either end.

Lever means 46 has a pressing platen 52 attached thereto, said pressingplaten having a pair of support arms 54 mounted on opposite sidesthereof, with each support arm having a guide rod 56 projectingtherefrom. Each guide rod projects from its connection point with itsattached support arm 54 towards the side wall 5 of the compactor andintersects and slides within a groove 58 of a guide 60 mounted on theinside of the side wall 5.

Disposed below pressing platen 52 is a trash container 62 which issupported on base wall 16 of movable platform means 14. Lever means 46and pressing platen 52 are constructed with notch or slot 66 which isdesigned to partially pass over the top edge 68 at the rear of trashcontainer 62 when lever means 46 is moved into the position shown inFIG. 2 in dotted lines.

The general operation of the compactor as shown in FIG. 2 requires thata certain amount of trash be placed into trash container 62. Uponactivation of switch 2, the hydraulic power means control, to bedescribed later, activates hydraulic cylinder 38 and causes piston rodand clevis 42 to extend from hydraulic cylinder 38. The movement of theclevis 42 causes lever means 46 to rotate about pivotal connection 48and cause pressing platen 52 to move downwardly through the open top oftrash container 62 and compress the trash contained within the trashcontainer 62. The hydraulic power control means subsequentlyfunctions tocause piston rod and clevis 42 to withdraw and return to its originalposition as shown in solid lines in FIG. 2. The movement thus impartedto pressing platen 52 serves to compress any trash contained with trashcontainer 62. When trash container 62 becomes filled with compactedtrash, the front wall 3 and connected movable platform means 14 can bewithdrawn from the compactor because movable platform means 14 issupported upon floor 69 by a plurality of floor-engaging rollers 71!. InFIG. 4, movable platform means 14 is shown partially withdrawn from thecompactor and it can be readily discerned that the platform can be moveda sufficient distance to allow trash container 62 to be liftedvertically off of movable platform 16 to allow the compacted trash to beremoved.

Referring now to FIG. 3, water pipe 72 connects directly to the domesticwater supply for the building in which the kitchen compactor is to beinstalled. Valve 74 is installed at the end of water pipe 72 in order toisolate the kitchen compactor from the domestic water supply whenmaintenance or repairs are necessary upon the hydraulic apparatus withinthe kitchen compactor. The water that passes through valve 74 passestrol means 78 which is activated by control button 2. Hydraulic controlmeans 78 connects via pipe means 80 to hydraulic assembly 38 and furtherconnects to drain means 82.

Hydraulic control means 78 in response to signals received from controlbutton 2 causes water to enter hydraulic assembly 38 through pipe means80. The water entering the cylinder of the hydraulic assembly 38 acts toforce the piston and the piston rod, which carries clevis 42, out of thehydraulic cylinder, thus pivoting the lever arm 46 and causing pressingplaten 52 to enter trash container 62. The water within hydrauliccylinder which is located in the chamber above the piston escape throughpipe means 80 and into drain 82 which connects to the sewage system ofthe building in which the compactor is installed. After piston andpiston rod have been fully extended from the hydraulic cylinder,hydraulic control means 78 causes water to pass through pipe means 80into hydraulic cylinder and cause piston and piston rod to retractwithin the hydraulic cylinder with the excess water escaping throughpipe means 80 and into drain 82.

Because of the small size and shape of the compactor 1, it is adaptedfor ready installation in a kitchen, either beneath a counter or in lieuof a cabinet. The water supply for the compactor can be connected withthe kitchen sink water supply, without requiring any extensive plumbingmodifications in the kitchen. Obviously, if desired, the cylinder andpiston assembly can also be energized by some fluid power source otherthan water. In use, the handle 4 is pulled to open the hopper door 8 andtrash is deposited through opening 9 and into the trash container 62.Once the door 8 is closed, the button 2 can be operated to cause thetrash to be compressed within the container 62 by the pressing platen52.

After reading the foregoing detailed description, it should be apparentthat the objects set forth in the outset hereof have been successfullyachieved by. the present invention. It will be apparent, however, thatcertain modifications may easily be made by those of skill in the artwithout avoiding the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth inthe appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A kitchen compactor comprising:

a casin g;

a removable platform having a forward wall and a base wall, saidplatform interfitting withsaid casroller means mounted on said removableplatform to enable said platform to be separated from said cassaidremovable platform being adapted to support on said base wall thereof, atrash container having an open top;

hydraulic power means connectable with a household water supply, saidhydraulic power means being mounted within said casing;

lever means pivotally mounted within said casing, said lever means beingconnected with said hydraulic power means;

a pressing platen attached to said lever means and being configured toenter at least partially into said trash container; and

hydraulic control means operative in a first mode of operation to causesaid hydraulic power means to pivot said lever means until said pressingplaten enters said trash container to compress the trash therein;

said hydraulic control means also being operative in a second mode ofoperation to cause said hydraulic power means to pivot said lever meansuntil said pressing platen retracts from said trash container.

2. A kitchen compactor as defined in claim 1 wherein said forward wallof said platform forms the forward wall of said casing.

3. A kitchen compactor as defined in claim 2 wherein said forward wallof said platform includes a manually operable hopper door therein whichpermits trash to be introduced into said trash container while saidplatform remains coupled with said casing.

' tached at its lower end to said bottom wall portion.

6. A kitchen compactor as defined in claim 1 wherein said lever meanscarries said pressing platen at one end thereto, is connected to saidhydraulic power means at the opposite end thereof and is pivotallymounted by a pivot passing therethrough between its ends.

7. A kitchen compactor as defined in claim 6 wherein said lever meansincludes a downwardly open notch between said pressing platen and saidpivotal mount, said notch being adapted to pass over the rear wall ofsaid trashcontainer as said lever pivots said pressing platen into saidtrash container.

8. A kitchen compactor as defined in claim 1 wherein said hydraulicpower means includes a 4. A kitchen compactor as defined in claim 1 Acylinder, a piston movable within the cylinder under the influence ofhydraulic pressure, a piston rod attached to said piston and projectingbeyond said cylinder and a clevis mounted on the end of said piston rodsaid clevis being pivotally connected to said lever means.

1. A kitchen compactor comprising: a casing; a removable platform havinga forward wall and a base wall, said platform interfitting with saidcasing; roller means mounted on said removable platform to enable saidplatform to be separated from said casing; said removable platform beingadapted to support on said base wall thereof, a trash container havingan open top; hydraulic power means connectable with a household watersupply, said hydraulic power means being mounted within said casing;lever means pivotally mounted within said casing, said lever means beingconnected with said hydraulic power means; a pressing platen attached tosaid lever means and being configured to enter at least partially intosaid trash container; and hydraulic control means operative in a firstmode of operation to cause said hydraulic power means to pivot saidlever means until said pressing platen enters said trash container tocompress the trash therein; said hydraulic control means also beingoperative in a second mode of operation to cause said hydraulic powermeans to pivot said lever means until said pressing platen retracts fromsaid trash container.
 2. A kitchen compactor as defined in claim 1wherein said forward wall of said platform forms the forward wall ofsaid casing.
 3. A kitchen compactor as defined in claim 2 wherein saidforward wall of said platform includes a manually operable hopper doortherein which permits trash to be introduced into said trash containerwhile said platform remains coupled with said casing.
 4. A kitchencompactor as defined in claim 1 wherein said casing includes a bottomwall portion, said bottom wall portion serving as a stop against whichsaid platform base wall abuts, and also serving as a mounting wall towhich said hydraulic power means is attached.
 5. A kitchen compactor asdefined in claim 4 wherein said hydraulic power means is pivotallyattached at its lower end to said bottom wall portion.
 6. A kitchencompactor as defined in claim 1 wherein said lever means carries saidpressing platen at one end thereto, is connected to said hydraulic powermeans at the opposite end thereof and is pivotally mounted by a pivotpassing therethrough between its ends.
 7. A kitchen compactor as definedin claim 6 wherein said lever means includes a downwardly open notchbetweEn said pressing platen and said pivotal mount, said notch beingadapted to pass over the rear wall of said trash container as said leverpivots said pressing platen into said trash container.
 8. A kitchencompactor as defined in claim 1 wherein said hydraulic power meansincludes a cylinder, a piston movable within the cylinder under theinfluence of hydraulic pressure, a piston rod attached to said pistonand projecting beyond said cylinder and a clevis mounted on the end ofsaid piston rod said clevis being pivotally connected to said levermeans.